Another Florida election snafu has resulted in a new winner being declared. However, this competition involved college newspapers, not politicians, and student journalists from The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) are ecstatic over the results.
Jay Miller, adviser at the UTD Mercury, the university’s student newspaper, was notified on Thursday that the third place “Best of Show” award his publication won last week at the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) national convention in Orlando was being rescinded.
It seems that the two schools that had placed ahead of UTD in the prestigious national competition – the University of Arkansas and the University of Idaho – had inadvertently entered the wrong category when submitting their entry forms.
“Once the judges placed the two entrants in their proper categories, UTD was awarded first place honors in the competition among newspapers at four-year universities that publish less often than weekly,” said Miller. “The Mercury staff is deservedly delighted with the turn of events of this latest Florida ‘recount’ and is anxious to get its hands on the silver cup that will be forthcoming from ACP officials.”
This year’s first-place finish improves on the second-place showing The Mercury made in the same competition last year.
ACP officials also announced new second and third-place honorees in this year’s event – The Ionian of Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., and The Marlin Chronicle of Virginia Wesleyan College in Norfolk, Va., respectively.